User interest, satisfaction in Android approaching the iPhone
ChangeWave is finding high brand recognition for Android among surveyed users who are planning to purchase a smartphone over the next quarter, as well as high satisfaction rankings nearly as high as the leading iPhone.
The survey, held during the second week of December, asked 4,068 users about what phone they were using and their future purchasing plans over the upcoming three months. About 1,700 (42%) said they already owned a smartphone, a number that has ratcheted up dramatically from 15% just three years ago.
Another 520 of those surveyed (12.8%) said they planned to buy a new smartphone in the next three months. Of those, nearly 110 (21%) said they would "prefer to have the Android OS on their new phone," according to the report.
That's a big increase in Android's mindshare, which was formerly tied with the offerings from Palm at just 6% in the previous survey just three months earlier. Respondents in the latest survey stating a preference for Android beat out RIM's Blackberry and trounced Microsoft's Windows Mobile and the Palm WebOS, both of which lost a sizable chunk of their visibility in the December survey.
iPhone still in the lead
Still ahead of Android in terms of user's future plans is Apple's "iPhone OS X", which was the first choice for 28% of those planning to buy a new smartphone in the next three months. When asked what manufacturer of smartphone they planned to buy, those surveyed identified Apple's iPhone in 32% of their responses, indicating some confusion among users between operating systems and the phone's maker.
Surveyed on smartphone OS, Android approached the popularity of the iPhone' OS, but when asked about phone makers, Apple iPhone interest was ranked stronger while Android's partner manufacturers fractionalized responses. Motorola and HTC also make non-Android phones.
Last year, ChangeWave reported that users with future smartphone plans indicated a 26 percentage point drop in interest in the iPhone following its original summer release. This year, future interest in Apple remained high even though the holiday quarter. Additionally, users who said they planned to buy an iPhone three months ago appeared to actually have done just that.
Apple's blockbuster winter 2009 quarter, for which analysts are estimating sales of between 8.17 and 11.3 million iPhones, appears to be around double the number of phones Apple sold in the year ago quarter, when users snapped up 4.36 million iPhones.
The winter quarter, Apple's fiscal Q1, has historically served as the last big quarter for iPhone sales before a spring lull of anticipation for the company's next big iPhone product launch. In 2010 however, Apple is widely expected to debut its new Tablet in the interim, appealing to a new class and type of users before launching the fourth generation iPhone in the summer.
Android rivalry
Of those 520 respondents who said they planned to buy an new smartphone over the next three months, 13% said they expected to buy a Motorola phone, and 9% said HTC. Those results reflect the exclusive attention Google paid to Motorola during the holiday launch of its Verizon Droid.
Google has now returned to HTC to help launch that company's Droid equivalent with the Nexus One. This time, however, Google is putting its own name on the device and selling it from its own website. The primary difference is that Droid is tied to Verizon's network and involves a $350 termination fee, while Nexus One is only compatible with T-Mobile's non-standard 3G network, which is significantly more limited than AT&T's.
Sales of the Motorola Droid haven't yet flavored the smartphone satisfaction rankings yet, but Android users overall (the vast majority of whom were early adopters of HTC models) ranked their platform highly, with 72% saying they were "very satisfied" with their current phone. That's nearly as high as those "very satisfied" with the iPhone (77%) and well ahead of those assigning the same ranking to the Palm Pre (58%), RIM Blackberry (41%), classic Palm OS (29%), and Windows Mobile (25%).
The survey, held during the second week of December, asked 4,068 users about what phone they were using and their future purchasing plans over the upcoming three months. About 1,700 (42%) said they already owned a smartphone, a number that has ratcheted up dramatically from 15% just three years ago.
Another 520 of those surveyed (12.8%) said they planned to buy a new smartphone in the next three months. Of those, nearly 110 (21%) said they would "prefer to have the Android OS on their new phone," according to the report.
That's a big increase in Android's mindshare, which was formerly tied with the offerings from Palm at just 6% in the previous survey just three months earlier. Respondents in the latest survey stating a preference for Android beat out RIM's Blackberry and trounced Microsoft's Windows Mobile and the Palm WebOS, both of which lost a sizable chunk of their visibility in the December survey.
iPhone still in the lead
Still ahead of Android in terms of user's future plans is Apple's "iPhone OS X", which was the first choice for 28% of those planning to buy a new smartphone in the next three months. When asked what manufacturer of smartphone they planned to buy, those surveyed identified Apple's iPhone in 32% of their responses, indicating some confusion among users between operating systems and the phone's maker.
Surveyed on smartphone OS, Android approached the popularity of the iPhone' OS, but when asked about phone makers, Apple iPhone interest was ranked stronger while Android's partner manufacturers fractionalized responses. Motorola and HTC also make non-Android phones.
Last year, ChangeWave reported that users with future smartphone plans indicated a 26 percentage point drop in interest in the iPhone following its original summer release. This year, future interest in Apple remained high even though the holiday quarter. Additionally, users who said they planned to buy an iPhone three months ago appeared to actually have done just that.
Apple's blockbuster winter 2009 quarter, for which analysts are estimating sales of between 8.17 and 11.3 million iPhones, appears to be around double the number of phones Apple sold in the year ago quarter, when users snapped up 4.36 million iPhones.
The winter quarter, Apple's fiscal Q1, has historically served as the last big quarter for iPhone sales before a spring lull of anticipation for the company's next big iPhone product launch. In 2010 however, Apple is widely expected to debut its new Tablet in the interim, appealing to a new class and type of users before launching the fourth generation iPhone in the summer.
Android rivalry
Of those 520 respondents who said they planned to buy an new smartphone over the next three months, 13% said they expected to buy a Motorola phone, and 9% said HTC. Those results reflect the exclusive attention Google paid to Motorola during the holiday launch of its Verizon Droid.
Google has now returned to HTC to help launch that company's Droid equivalent with the Nexus One. This time, however, Google is putting its own name on the device and selling it from its own website. The primary difference is that Droid is tied to Verizon's network and involves a $350 termination fee, while Nexus One is only compatible with T-Mobile's non-standard 3G network, which is significantly more limited than AT&T's.
Sales of the Motorola Droid haven't yet flavored the smartphone satisfaction rankings yet, but Android users overall (the vast majority of whom were early adopters of HTC models) ranked their platform highly, with 72% saying they were "very satisfied" with their current phone. That's nearly as high as those "very satisfied" with the iPhone (77%) and well ahead of those assigning the same ranking to the Palm Pre (58%), RIM Blackberry (41%), classic Palm OS (29%), and Windows Mobile (25%).
Comments
Hasn't Steve learned from the treachery of John Sculley?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sculley
What about that environmental fraud Al Gore and his three, yes three! 30" monitors? What bs is that con artist going to pull? Steal and copy the iTablet?
Hello Al! God only gave you two eyes and one field of vision you dolt, turn off those other carbon wasting monitors now!
I'm freezing my testes off and I live in southern Florida for crying out loud. Global warming my @ss!
Global cooling is more like it, new ice age here we come!
Who commissioned the survey?
Thats what I would like to know.
I wonder which segment of the market bought those Android phones and if that segment is enough to maintain momentum against the iPhone. If it's mostly male tech-heads it doesn't look too promising. There are plenty of WinMo users who are "very satsifed" as well, but thank God the smartphone market isn't up to them.
Who commissioned the survey?
Perhaps no one. ChangeWave tries to capitalize on interest in AAPL and analysts and their firms need to advertise the "fact" that they are experts in their field to attract institutional investors and large clients.
Don't show this satisfaction survey to the multiple 'droid users that I have recently sold iPhones to. Some of them said they were going to take them outside and smash them.
Thank goodness your name isn't "changewavedave"... could be awkward.
And Apple won't stand still.
In a way, I'm quite glad Droid is doing well and Android is in the market. Competition makes for better products, and while having iPhone vs. Sucky SmartPhones might have made Apple richer, in the end they'll be stronger for having to compete.
And Apple won't stand still.
ABSOLUTELY! Can't wait to see what Apple has in store for June.
This is what Apple gets for allowing that snake Eric Schmidt on the board.
Hasn't Steve learned from the treachery of John Sculley?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sculley
Really? I am trying to understand the relation you are making between Eric Schmidt and John Sculley. This one is awfully perplexing.
the big weaknesses are that the droid OS update process is clunky and the app distribution is less controlled...so satisfaction may go down once people start seeing where these processes aren't as streamlined.
I'm not sure why the OS update process is considered clunky. I bought a Droid with Android 2.0 and received an over the air update of the OS to 2.0.1 at the beginning of December. Basically I had a notification about the update, clicked ok, and the update was installed pretty smoothly. Why do you say the update process is clunky?
Also there is an upside to having the app distribution less controlled, especially if you're a developer. There's no fear your work and app will be rejected.
Really? I am trying to understand the relation you are making between Eric Schmidt and John Sculley. This one is awfully perplexing.
Eric is CEO of Google which makes Android and also the Chrome browser that's hurting Apple.
John Sculley made some fatal mistakes at Apple, got Steve ousted, made deals with Microsoft and ruined the company.
Both are human trojans and not the condom types neither.
ABSOLUTELY! Can't wait to see what Apple has in store for June.
Hopefully, iPhones capable of operating on multiple carriers so it can go head to head with Android OS Smart Phones no matter where one can find them. Otherwise, consumers, who for whatever reason: work, personal preferences etc., will choose a iPhone-like option and that is how interest and satisfaction will ultimately surpass iPhone. Are not the lessons learned from dealing with Microsoft enough?
Eric is CEO of Google which makes Android and also the Chrome browser that's hurting Apple.
John Sculley made some fatal mistakes at Apple, got Steve ousted, made deals with Microsoft and ruined the company.
Both are human trojans and not the condom types neither.
So the relation between Eric Schmidt and John Sculley is they are both human trojans?
Now I know why you call yourself "MacTripper"...
Please do not take this for nothing, but that has to be the most generalized and nonsensical relation I have read in some time.
John Sculley made some fatal mistakes at Apple, got Steve ousted, made deals with Microsoft and ruined the company.
And Jobs is flawless? Pretty sure it was Jobs that gave Microsoft the original Macs to develop software for. Pretty sure it was Jobs who jacked the entire corporate culture at Apple and got himself ousted. Pretty sure it was Jobs that made a deal again with Microsoft in 1997.
But it was also Jobs that restored Apple.
I realize this is an Apple blog site and so it is stocked full of Apple fanboys, but let's show at least a little objectivity.